


Changing the World: Epilogue

by syphoner



Series: Changing the World [4]
Category: Zootopia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-13
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-07-23 17:22:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7472895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syphoner/pseuds/syphoner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of WildeHopps drabbles that take place after Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Each chapter will follow loosely the events of the previous, timeline-wise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rooms

“I can’t believe that this place is available for so little!”

 

Nick leaned over to take a look at the apartment his partner was looking at. “Is that including utilities?”

 

“Yeah, except internet.”

 

Nick scanned the listing she was reading. “’Available for 12 month lease, small prey preferred.’ In other words, it’s meant for people no bigger than rabbits. And they’re going to flip if they find out they’ll have a fox living there too.”

 

 _Just like the last place, too._ His words went unsaid, but it was painfully obvious to both of them that they were implied. The condo that Nick had picked out for them while they were in the hospital had seemed great at first – until they found out that Nick was the one who was trying to buy it, at which point they had flat-out refused any more communications with the pair of them, and had slammed the door in their faces.

 

“Oh. Right.” Her ears started drooping a little bit. “Why does everywhere have to be so exclusive or so expensive!”

 

“People are greedy and like to make money. Besides, you’re still looking at your old price range. Don’t forget, we have two salaries now to help pay for this place.”

 

“That doesn’t mean we want to go out spending double the amount of my last rent.”

 

“C’mon, fluff; we’re not looking at spending $4400 a month on rent! But you’ve capped your search results at $2000. You’d be lucky to find a place for that much, especially one bigger than your old one.”

 

“So then what price range are you suggesting, slick?”

 

“Bump it up by a grand. I mean, the ZPD’s still covering half of your rent, right? So between the two of us, we’ve got some money we can burn.”

 

“I guess,” Judy replied uncertainly, stroking back her ears, careful to avoid the ruined tip of the one on the left. Nick had noticed she did that a lot when something was making her anxious. He curled his tail around her waist and pulled her closer, breaking her gaze with the computer screen in front of her. She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, smiling into the fur of his neck.

 

They’d been released from the hospital a week prior. After their ordeal, Bogo gave them a week’s time to recover, seeing as neither one wanted much time to dwell on what had happened. After that, he said, they’d be eased back into work with 2 shifts their first week, 3 their second, et cetera. And they were on desk duty for the entire time until they were ready – physically and emotionally – to return to field duty.

 

For once, Judy hadn’t complained about not being on the beat.

 

She let go of her fox and shifted her position, so she was lying with her head in his lap and the laptop she was using lying on her stomach. Nick smiled and scratched between her ears gently before returning to his notes.

 

“So, you’re _sure_ you want two bedrooms, right?”

 

“It’ll be a hell of a lot harder to find an animal willing to rent to us if we’d be sharing a bedroom.”

 

“True enough.” Judy remembered the Oryx-Antlersons, who had seemed so nice – until she had brought Nick home and they’d threatened him. The pair of them were just two of the many mammals who were completely against interspecies relationships. If the potential landlord was the same, the one bedroom would lose them any chance of getting it.

 

“Besides,” Nick added with a grin. “I’m not sure we’ll have room in the closet for all of our clothes if we just take one room.”

 

“Dumb fox, you barely have any more clothes than I do, and I can fit all of mine into one rabbit-sized suitcase!”

 

“Or you only saw one closet of mine.”

 

“So you’re saying you have another closet full of clothes that you’ve never shown me?”

 

“Have you ever seen my suits in my closet?”

 

“Well, no… Now that you mention it, where _do_ you keep your suits?”

 

“In a closet in the spare bedroom, of course!”

 

“If you have a spare bedroom,” she said, tilting her head back to stare up at him, “then why was I sleeping on the couch in your bedroom after the Gazelle concert?”

 

“Partially so I could keep an eye on you throughout the night, but mainly because the only clean part of the spare bedroom is the closet, and making a bed in there would be cramped, at best.”

 

“You always have an answer for everything, don’t you?” He matched her smile with his own and shrugged.

 

“I have to stay sharp somehow, Carrots, now don’t I? Especially if I want to get my detective shield at the same time as you.”

 

“You’d better!” A ping from the laptop caused them both to look over. “Oh, it looks like you’ve got an email from Andrew.” Andrew was the real estate agent that Nick was using to sell his house near the wall with the Rainforest District, where they were staying, as well as the house he’d inherited from his mom that he’d been renting to Ricky. Since Ricky had been living there alone and didn’t have any other family, the house went back to Nick in full when Ricky had been beaten to death in prison.

 

Nick reached over and plucked the laptop from the bunny’s lap. He skimmed it briefly. “We’ve got an offer. $452, 900.”

 

“How much were you expecting to get for it?”

 

“A lot less than that,” Nick admitted. “I was expecting any offers to be haggled down before they went through. These mammals only tried to drop the price by a few thousand.”

 

“That’s great! Which house is it on?”

 

“It’s for my mom’s old place. The one in Happytown.”

 

“Are you going to accept it?”

 

“Yeah,” he replied absently, sending a reply to Andrew telling him to accept the offer. “You know, at this point, we could probably just find a condo for us to share, and then use the money from the houses to buy it.”

 

“Come on, you know I’d feel super guilty if I made you pay for the whole thing!”

 

“Do I? Yes, yes I do. Which is why _you’d_ be the one buying it.”

 

“Huh? What are you talking about? I don’t have that kind of money!”

 

“No, but it’s more likely we’ll get a respectable place if it’s a cute little bunny like you is the one offering to buy it, rather than a fox like me.” He stroked his claws gently down her bare arm.

 

“Don’t call me cute,” she groused, but she didn’t move away from his touch so he figured she was just being stubborn with the words. “And that still doesn’t explain how I’m going to get the money.”

 

“Well, we can do that a few different ways. I could write you a check for the cost of the place, or we could get the buyer to write the check out to you straight up, and cut out the middle man. Or, you know, e-transfers are a thing now, I hear.”

 

“Har har. I’d still feel bad about not helping pay for it.”

 

“How about this, then. I buy the condo, and then you pay all the utilities for it until we’re even. Deal?”

 

Judy paused to consider it for a moment, then reached over her head and pulled the laptop back onto her stomach. “Deal,” she replied, and then reached over her head again to grab Nick on either side of his face and pull his muzzle down towards hers. She gave him a light kiss on the nose before hitting the browser’s home button and typing _‘condos for sale savannah central/downtown zootopia’_ into the Zoogle search bar.

 

Nick hummed happily as he turned back to his notes.


	2. Housewarming

A knock on the door had Judy racing through the condo in the first thing she could find – a fluffy purple robe that Nick had bought her as a birthday gift. She opened the door to see herself standing face to stomach with one very chubby cheetah and one very athletic leopard. The leopard was carrying a large crockpot.

 

“Ben!” Judy laughed as the cheetah bent down to pick her up in a hug. “I’m so glad you could make it! And it’s nice to see you again too, Serge!”

 

“Always a pleasure, Judy,” the leopard replied with a twitch of his snout. “Are we early?”

 

“No, I’m just running a few minutes behind. Nick should be here any moment, though. Come on in!”

 

The two entered as Judy moved aside, and then shut the door. “You can just put the food in the kitchen,” she told them, waving vaguely to the left wall of the condo. She darted back to the room she shared with Nick and quickly changed into the evening gown she’d gotten for the occasion.

 

She came back out to find that Nick was already chatting away with Clawhauser and Serge while he put away the beers and the wine into a cooler. She stopped to admire him for a moment. He was wearing a deep blue silk shirt with the top few buttons undone, tucked into a pair of beige slacks. After a moment of watching, he tilted his head back slightly and smirked at her. She matched him with a grin of her own and walked over to the two of them, closing the door to the bedroom behind her.

 

It wasn’t long before other people started to arrive, and almost without Judy realizing it, their condo was filled with mammals of all shapes and sizes. Most of them were from the police force – Delgato, Snarloff, Wolford, Taggert, even Chief Bogo and his wife had made an appearance, and the chief looked much more relaxed than Judy had ever seen him.

 

A few others had decided to bring food along with Clawhauser, and about halfway through the night Judy was feeling glad that she hadn’t had time for dinner. All the food that was put out was delicious, and everyone else seemed to be enjoying it too. She also silently thanked Nick for only bringing out the appetizers once there were more people around to keep Ben’s mouth occupied with something other than eating.

 

Judy was right in the middle of an awkward conversation about sloth claw care with Flash and Priscilla, who was his girlfriend and one of his coworkers from the DMV, when she heard a knock at the door. She politely excused herself – glad for the excuse to get away from the painfully slow and boring conversation – and made her way over to the door.

 

She was surprised by the mix of mammals that she found standing in front of her. On the left were her parents, her littermates Al and Beth, and her younger sister Annie, who seemed to be almost bouncing with excitement. On the right were none other than Finnick, who looked slightly stoned, and a young otter who looked like she was just out of high school, but was carrying a large bottle of wine and a pair of car keys.

 

“Uh…”

 

“Oh, Judy! It’s great to see you again!” Her mother pushed past her into the condo, her father and siblings following closely behind. Judy hadn’t noticed it before but her father was carrying a basket of produce. “This is a lovely place you have here! And how much did you say you pay for it a month?”

 

“I pay the utilities, Mom. Just until Nick and I are even.”

 

“I’m betting on at least twenty years of living off free utilities,” Nick joked, appearing suddenly to trade Stu a full wine glass for his basket of produce. “Enjoy a drink, Stu It’s good. And for the rest of you, there’s drinks in the cooler that’s on the floor just beside the island.” He gave Annie a sly look. “And don’t worry, O youngest rabbit in the room, I’ll look the other way if you swipe yourself a glass of wine or a bottle of beer.”

 

“Please, I’m designated driver for the night.”

 

“Oh? And how did you swing that?”

 

“Because none of these goofs know anything about the city.”

 

Judy turned back to the other two guests at the door, who still hadn’t moved. Finnick wasn’t even scowling at being ignored. Judy decided he was _definitely_ stoned.

 

Before she had a chance to say anything to him, however, the otter spoke up. “Hi there, I’m Jasmine. You can call me Jazz, though. Are you Nick’s mate?”

 

“I… uh… sort of?”

 

“Well, getting a place together is a nice first step, and you won’t have to worry about being walked in on, for a change.” She had a disarming smile that had Judy instantly relaxing and liking her. “Also, I’m sorry about my friend here. He’s a little… disagreeable, sometimes.”

 

“Don’t need to explain it to her, Jazzy,” Finnick said calmly. “She knows who I am. She knows what I’m like. She don’t care.”

 

“Uh… okay, then. Anyway, we figured he might be a little better if he weren’t always snarling.”

 

“So are you his DD then?”

 

The otter’s face split in a smile, and she nodded enthusiastically. Then she held out the bottle of wine. “This is for you, by the way. You wouldn’t _believe_ the amount of ID’s I had to pull out to prove that I’m 25.”

 

“Oh! Thank you!” Judy accepted the bottle, then realized that they were still standing at the door. “I’m so sorry, please, come in!”

 

The two passed beside him and Judy noticed that Finnick went right to the alcohol cooler and started chatting with Flash. Jazz, on the other paw, inserted herself into a conversation between Priscilla, Francine, and Evelyn Fangmeyer. Judy smiled and went to put the bottle of wine on the counter, next to the others.

 

“Trust me, Mr. Hopps,” Nick was saying as Judy approached. “If we had any doubts about living here, we would not be living here. But this building has everything to suit our needs – except for a free coffee delivery service, which is annoyingly hard to find.”

 

Judy noticed that the alcohol seemed to be flowing well among her family members. Beth and her mother had glasses of wine in their paws, Al and her father both had beers in their paws, and there were a few more bottles already empty on the counter beside them that hadn’t been there when Judy had gone to open the door.

 

“Like you’d even want that,” Stu snorted in reply to Nick’s comment. “The best coffee you’ll ever have is coffee that’s been brewed by your own paw, in your own coffeepot.”

 

“Obviously you’ve never had the coffee from the little café across the street.”

 

Annie was standing there, looking very bored at the droll conversation that seemed to have the rest of her family so raptured. She looked over and mimed hanging herself. Judy had to suppress the giggle that welled up at Annie’s obviously exaggerated expression.

 

“You are so lucky that you get to drink tonight,” she said to her older sister. “It must make this whole thing a lot more bearable.”

 

“I actually haven’t had anything to drink yet,” Judy admitted. “I’ve been so busy catching up with people and enjoying the food that I haven’t even thought about trying anything.”

 

“Wow, look at you being the model host. Maybe I should be taking notes. Not that I’ll be hosting any cocktail parties anytime soon, but you never know when stuff like this might be useful.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure that after this Mom will rediscover her love of cocktail parties for a night and try to host one again sometime soon.”

 

“So? I’ll be here in the city.”

 

“Huh? You will?”

 

“Uh, yeah. I’m starting at Zootopia U in a few weeks. Didn’t I tell you that I got accepted for pre-law with a major in poli-sci?”

 

“No! Oh my goodness! Congratulations!” Judy reached over and squeezed her younger sister in a tight hug. “Where are you staying? We should host a house-warming party for you too!”

 

“Good luck with that,” Annie laughed. “I’m staying in residence there. It’s cheaper than trying to get something in the heart of downtown Zootopia.”

 

“Oh. Well that should be a pretty good place to be, since you’re so close to everything.”

 

“Yeah. So that’s how I got stuck as the designated driver for the evening, because I’m the only one of the five of us that knows where anything is in this city. And they certainly weren’t interested in crowding you and your boy toy in your new place.”

 

“I can’t imagine why,” Nick cut in, handing Judy a glass of a rich red wine that she was positive was blueberry. “I thought they loved hearing the things that went bump in the night!”

 

“Oh, no, I think they had _more_ than enough of that the last time they came up to visit us, when we were in the hospital. They stayed at my place, remember? They had to deal with Bucky and Pronk for three nights in a row.”

 

“I wonder how they managed that? Those two could drive even the most patient rabbit out of her mind!”

 

“Not like rabbits are known for their patience anyway,” Annie drawled out, smirking at the fox from under hooded eyelids. “Why do you think it’s so rare to find a bunny as old as Judy who still isn’t married and pregnant?”

 

“Wait, really? But Judy’s still pretty young.”

 

“By her age, our grandparents already had like, five litters.” Nick’s ears pinned back and his mouth hung open slightly in surprise.

 

“Wow, I really want to know what you said to him,” Jazz said, walking up to the three of them. Judy realized that other than Annie, her family had dispersed and started mingling with the crowd a little bit. “Normally I can never get Nick to shut up.”

 

“Hey!” All three women giggled.

 

“We were just discussing rabbit breeding patterns,” Annie supplied. “He seems mildly terrified that as soon as he starts mating, he’ll have kits popping up left, right and centre.”

 

“Oh, I don’t think he’ll have to worry about that. Foxes are only able to produce a few kits at a time, and not nearly as frequently as rabbits are.”

 

Jazz laughed, and suddenly the two were like best friends, chatting away and oblivious to the rest of the room. Judy and Nick backed away slowly and disappeared together back into the crowd.

**

Judy closed the door on the last of their guests, a very inebriated Finnick and a slightly less inebriated Flash who Judy suspected had taken Adderall or something, because he had been moving particularly fast for a sloth for a good portion of the night. Thankfully, Jazz had agreed to drive both him and Priscilla home in addition to Finnick.

 

Nick was sitting on one of the barstools that they’d placed on the far side of the island, leaning back against it. He seemed very pleased with himself for some reason.

 

Judy made her way over to him and placed her head in his lap. It was about the same height. Nick snickered and flicked his tail around to drape over the back of her neck. “Comfortable, darling?”

 

“Mm-hmmm.” Judy rubbed her cheek against his legs and wrapped her arms around what parts of his waist she could reach.

 

“You look tired.”

 

“It took a lot more energy than I was expecting to have so many people be here tonight.”

 

Nick nodded in agreement, his gaze locked on a point in the distance. “I honestly wasn’t expecting so many people to show up. And definitely not Finnick. Did you notice that he was high?”

 

“It was kind of hard to miss,” Judy replied with a roll of her eyes. “Especially when Jazz apologized for it.”

 

“Did she? I’m surprised that she would be okay with it in the first place; she’s never seemed like the kind of person who would condone drug use.”

 

“I think she was hoping it would calm him down around all the cops that she figured would be here. Speaking of Jazz, by the way, how the heck do those two know each other? They’re not dating, are they?”

 

“Not that I know of. For now they’re just friends. We’ll see if it goes any farther than that.”

 

“Mmm.” Judy rubbed her cheek against his legs again. “So how do you know her?”

 

“Same place as where Finnick knows her from.”

 

“And where would that be?”

 

Nick smiled. “Come on, let’s start getting ready for bed first, and I’ll tell you once we’re under the covers.” He gently eased her off his lap and then hopped off the barstool. Judy allowed him to lead her back to their bedroom without protest, and was more than happy to help as Nick slipped the evening gown from her shoulders as his lips found hers.


	3. Hypotheticals

Two days later, Judy was sitting at home. She’d already exhausted her usual methods of entertainment on her days off – chatting or going to lunch with Fru Fru, going to the Fruit Market to look for fresh fruits and veggies, going for a walk through one of Zootopia’s various parks – and Nick wasn’t home to do anything with, either. Her chores were all done, seeing as they’d done everything in advance for the housewarming party.

 

And now she was bored.

 

She tugged her ears hard in frustration, then slid her paws off, letting go just before she reached the spot where the tip of her ear used to be. The bite had been bad, but seeing the reactions of everyone at the hospital and of her fellow officers had been worse. And of course, her family had used that entire fiasco to try and convince her – once again – that it wasn’t safe for a bunny to be a cop. They’d almost been removed from the hospital because Judy had gotten so agitated whenever they brought it up. She was now sure that tales of her torn ear were circulating the Burrows, probably being used to deter other young rabbits from pursuing their dreams.

 

Not that she was the last bunny in her family to pursue their unconventional dreams. Jeff and Annie were also both working towards their dreams, Annie of becoming a court judge and Jeff of making a major scientific breakthrough. Speaking of Jeff…

 

Judy grabbed herself a glass of water from the fridge and went to sit down in the living room. She pulled out her phone and fired off a quick text. Not a minute later, her phone started playing the video call ringtone. She hit the talk button, and Jeff’s face appeared on the screen.

 

“Hey, sis. Long time no see. How’s the ear?”

 

“Oh, you know,” Judy replied airily, angling the phone up so that the camera could see her ears. Jeff visibly winced and smoothed his own ears back almost surreptitiously. “Torn, but it really healed nicely, especially once the doctors had a look at it. How’s the new year going for you?”

 

“Brilliantly. Because of my research and the attention it’s been getting lately in some major peer-reviewed science journals, the Biology Department is giving me a ton of funding for whatever I want to study next.”

 

“That’s fantastic!” Judy exclaimed, beaming at the phone. “You go, bro!”

 

Jeff grinned back at her. “Thanks. Now I just need to figure out what I want to study. But what are you doing calling me in the middle of the day? Playing hooky or something?”

 

“It’s my day off,” Judy replied. “And besides catching up, I actually wanted to ask you a few questions.”

 

“If this is about that young buck that Lily and Nat tried to set me up with last week, then I’ll tell you everything you need to know in 10 seconds flat. He was nice, but not my type. He was over 18, so no harm no foul even if we did do anything, and we’re both tops so it wouldn’t have worked anyway because neither of us like it up the ass. All we did was have a nice dinner together and parted ways.”

 

“Huh? You had a date with a new guy?”

 

“Wait, you mean Annie didn’t tell you?” Judy shook her head and Jeff sighed. “Well that explains why it’s taken this long for you to call me about it. So long story short, I’m single again.”

 

“I’m glad you’re not getting hung up over Liam.”

 

Jeff shrugged his shoulders. “Like Mikey – Lily’s friend whom they tried to hook me up with – Liam was a nice guy. It just took me a lot longer to realize he wasn’t my type. So we parted with no hard feelings. So what were you going to ask me about?”

 

“Well… Something kinda similar to what you thought, but about me instead.”

 

“Did you call me just to gossip?” Jeff demanded, then his eyes widened. “Pop-pop didn’t try to set you up with _another_ rabbit, did he?”

 

“No! No, nothing like that. I’m still happily with Nick and so far have not gotten any kind of suitors trying to pick me up. Probably something about my torn ear; it’s a huge turn off, you know. No, it’s actually something about Nick and I.”

 

“Trouble in paradise? You know I’ve got a whole litter of sisters who would _love_ to gossip with you about this.”

 

Judy rolled her eyes. “I’m talking about _biology_ , Jeff. I somehow find it hard to believe any of them would have any kind of interest in a discussion about biology.”

 

“Okay, now I’m intrigued.”

 

“So… the other night after the party that we were hosting, Nick and I ended up fooling around a little bit. Nothing much because we were both tired, but enough that it makes me think we’re going to go all the way sooner rather than later.”

 

“Please don’t tell me that you want me to give you a run-down of fox biology,” Jeff interjected. “Especially not when I’m talking about your _boyfriend_.” He mimed puking. “Like, even for me there are limits, and I definitely draw the line at explaining to my _older sister_ how to get it on.”

 

“Oh, you hush, Jeff. I probably know more about how to get it on than you do, _and_ I know more vulpine anatomy than you do, too.”

 

“ _Thank you_ for that lovely piece of information, Judith.” He mimed puking again.

 

“ _My pleasure_ , Jeffrey. Now, what I was _going_ to ask was, are there any precautions that I need to take? Besides a sexual health check,” she added hastily as she noticed his face split in a wicked grin that she remembered all too well from when he was a kid.

 

He just laughed. “Are you asking me if you can get pregnant by Nick?”

 

“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m asking.”

 

“And here you claim to know more about vulpine anatomy than I do.”

 

“Oh, I still think I do, but I have _no idea_ about interspecies procreation. Which is why I’m asking you.”

 

“Honestly, Jude, I really don’t think you have anything to worry about. Interspecies pregnancies are rare enough in closely related species, like lions and tigers, or even goats and sheep. A predator impregnating prey, though? The only place you’re likely to find that is in some of the kinkier erotic stories online.”

 

“So it’s pretty well impossible, then?” Judy’s ears drooped slightly, but Jeff didn’t seem to notice before she caught herself. He gazed off to a point in the distance beyond the camera, lost in thought.

 

“I mean, it stands to reason that with enough genetic modifications – hormone injections and the like – that a mammal could potentially birth a healthy baby of another species, especially if they used a surrogate and transferred the egg.”

 

“Huh? Really?”

 

Jeff nodded absently. “Yeah, possibly. But that would be a ridiculous amount of time, effort and money that you probably wouldn’t want to spend, at least right now. So to answer your question from earlier, you won’t have to worry about accidentally getting pregnant if you decide to let that fox knot inside you.”

 

Judy frowned. “What do you mean? Let him knot inside me?”

 

Jeff got that evil grin back on his face. “Oh, my dearest Judith, you have a _lot_ to research before you’re ready to have a fox cock buried hilt-deep inside of you.”

**

“And what has you so distracted lately, hmm?”

 

“Huh? What do you mean? I haven’t been distracted!”

 

“Then why did I have to ask you three times what you wanted for dinner, four times for you to help me prep it, and another few times if you wanted a beer?”

 

“I guess I just wasn’t paying attention,” Judy said, shrugging.

 

“And it wouldn’t have anything to do with ‘knotting’, would it?”

 

Judy gaped at her fox open mouthed. “Wha… H-how did you…?”

 

Nick twirled some spaghetti onto his fork before stabbing it into a piece of broccoli. He plopped it into his mouth and chewed very slowly, never taking his eyes off of Judy’s. He could tell by the twitch of her nose that she was not amused by his delay tactics, and he loved it.

 

Finally, he replied with, “You’re a very easy person to read, especially when you keep glancing at my crotch.”

 

Her ears flushed a bright red with embarrassment, and she clenched her jaw. “No I haven’t!”

 

“Are you sure about that, Carrots?”

 

Judy seemed to regain some composure as she responded. “Yes, I am. How did you actually know, Nick? And don’t give me a whack-a-doodle story, please.”

 

He was a little put off, but complied. “I had to go into your computer to get some paperwork done because I forgot my password and got locked out of my account. You left your personal Zmail account logged in, and I ended up seeing your search history while I was trying to open a tab I’d closed by accident.”

 

“Oh.” Judy dropped her head to stare at her plate, then her eyes peeked up at him from under her brows. “Uh, I guess I should remember to log out of there, then, huh.”

 

Nick just chuckled and gave her that genuine, affectionate smile that only she could ever seem to evoke, and returned to his plate. “So why were you Zoogling fox knotting?”

 

Judy sighed. “I talked with Jeff today, just to ask him some questions about… you know… the stuff we did last night.”

 

“Oh? I didn’t realize that it fell to you, the older sister, to have the ‘talk’ with him. Though I bet he was scarred for life listening to your description of me eating you… out.”

 

“Ni-ick!” Judy’s ears flushed an even brighter red as she rolled her eyes at him.

 

“What?” She just glared at him. “Why else would you need to bring it up with him? I mean, you’re not really the kind of person who would gossip about that kind of thing – I think – and Jeff is definitely not the kind of person you would talk about it with. He doesn’t seem very keen on sexual stuff.”

 

“Oh, you have no idea. He’s got a ridiculously dirty mind. I once walked in on him reading a graphic novel version of the Kamal Sutra that he’d got from some of the older boys at school. We were 8 at the time.”

 

“And let me guess, you were the one who went and reported it to your parents so you could help ‘protect’ your younger brother from the disgusting and disturbing information in that book?”

 

“Actually, they walked in right behind me, saw the title of the book, and shooed me out. I ended up sneaking into their room while they were building up my mother’s garden and getting it back for him so he could return it to the older boys.”

 

“Not very cop-like of you.”

 

She shrugged and grinned at him sheepishly. “I didn’t really know I wanted to become a cop at that point. I hadn’t had any interaction with them, so I really didn’t know anything about them. It was only when someone broke into our barn and stole a bunch of our carrot crop that I first realized that I wanted to be like the people who solved the crime.”

 

“And who was it?”

 

“A litter of teenagers high on crack. Thought they could get away with it because they came in from their cottage out of town. Their parents paid the bail for all four of them and they got away scot-free. That’s most of what got me into police work in the first place; I found it so unjust that they could get away with what they did just because they had money.”

 

“And has the world become more just since then?”

 

“Not really,” Judy admitted, “but that’s why I still need to work hard to make it a better place!”

 

Nick chuckled. “Alright, Carrots, whatever you say. That still doesn’t explain the fox knotting though.”

 

“Oh. Right. Well, I was asking Jeff about… if there was anything we needed to worry about if and when we actually went all the way. Just in case, you know? I don’t want any unplanned surprises coming along anytime soon.”

 

“Did you actually think you might get pregnant from having sex with me?”

 

“No, I kind of figured that it would never happen. I just wanted to double check, you know? Just to be on the safe side. And I figured Jeff would be the best person to ask, since he’s in the biology department at MFU.”

 

“And did his answer challenge your certainties about pred-prey mating?”

 

“Nope, though he did say it might be possible for it to happen through hormone injections and surrogates and stuff. At the cost of a lot of money and time, of course.”

 

“Really?”

 

“He wasn’t sure, but he said that based on what he knew, he could see the potential.”

 

“Huh, who would’ve thought it.”

 

They ate in silence for a few minutes. As always, Judy enjoyed Nick’s cooking as much as he did. He was a really good chef when he wanted to be, and when he brought home new and exotic recipes every once in a while, she was just itching to help him out with them – or at least, with sampling the results.

 

“Did you figure out what knotting was?”

 

Judy looked up, surprised. She hadn’t expected him to keep on the subject, especially when they’d gone silent. It their conversations were normally a little more lighthearted. “Kind of. The websites I was using weren’t exactly the best, though. I’m still going to need to do some more research before I really get most of the concepts.”

 

“If you want, I could teach you. Just what I learned from my mom,” he added hastily as he saw her expression change. “I – crap, I didn’t mean it like that. Uh, because my dad wasn’t around I got the talk from my mom and—“

 

“I get it, Nick,” Judy replied, giggling at his discomfort. It was rare to see him so ill at ease, but how awkward he went never failed to make her laugh. “I think that would probably be more beneficial than looking online or in some dusty old book, and probably way better than trying to ask Finnick for help.”

 

“Oh, god,” Nick groaned. “You’ve never had that talk with him. I have. Trust me, you don’t want to see him whipping it out to demonstrate.”

 

“Are you serious? He’d actually _do_ that?” The revulsion was plain in her voice. Nick nodded in both assent and sympathy.

 

“Yeah. He tried doing that to a girl at a house party when I was 19. It certainly got him laid, but I think it was because the vixen was drunker than he was.”

 

“Gross. I think I’ve lost my appetite.”

 

“What? You find the thought of a lovely, drunk young vixen going to bed with Finnick disturbing to your stomach?” Judy rolled her eyes, but that did nothing to quell Nick’s sarcasm. “Well, fluff, I find your lack of interest in my dish… disturbing.”

 

“I have absolute interest in your broccoli and parmesan spaghetti alfredo,” Judy replied. “It’s more about the thought of Finnick’s genitalia that has me a little squeamish.”

 

Nick laughed at that, and his warm, caring smile was back in place. His eyes softened as they met hers, and he reached across the table to take her paw in a rare moment of sentimentality. “Then it’s a good thing I’ve got some of those carrot sorbet ice cream bars you love stashed in the freezer. But only if you finish your dinner, young lady.”

 

“You big goof,” she said, slapping the back of his paw with her free one. He cracked a short laugh and pulled his paw back to continue eating.

 

“Hey, Nick?” He looked up at her. “I think I’d like that lesson with you.”

 

“Glad to hear it, Carrots. We can start right after ice cream.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, little time + writer's block = no writing. :{ Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to get more out soon!


	4. Drinks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4. Hiatus is finally over! (Maybe I'll be able to finish this after all!)
> 
> Also, prepare for flat out, gratuitous WildeHopps smut.

“May I sit down?”

 

Judy looked up, surprised. The only mammal she was expecting was Nick, and he was still on his way with Flash, Priscilla, Clawhauser and Serge.

 

“Uh… sure, I guess.”

 

The hare slid into the seat next to her and leaned in close. A hostess was just a step behind with a large bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice. “May I offer you a glass of champagne?”

 

“No thank you,” Judy said, lifting her beer slightly. “I’m just going to stick to what I’ve got.”

 

“Come on, there’s no harm in it,” the hare replied, popping the cork and filling a champagne flute that he pulled from his side of the bucket. He placed it in front of her and then poured himself one. Judy pulled it out of the way and returned to nursing her beer. “I’m Torren. Kit Torren.”

 

“I’m Judy,” she replied, “Judy Hopps.” She extended her hand for him to shake. He pulled it towards him and kissed her knuckles instead.

 

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Judy,” the hare purred. (Now _that_ was a weird sound, hearing a hare purr). “I can’t imagine what’s got someone like you looking so lonely on a beautiful night as this, especially here at this club.”

 

“I wouldn’t exactly say I’m lonely,” Judy shrugged. “I’m just waiting for my friends to get here.”

 

“And would they object too much if you weren’t here when they got here?”

 

“Probably. I mean, I am supposed to be saving us all a table.”

 

“I’m sure they’d understand.”

 

“Maybe, but I’m not planning on having to worry about that just yet.”

 

“Come on, where’s the fun in just sitting here?”

 

“The reward of a full and fun evening with my friends?” Judy replied, hoping he’d take the hint. When it was obvious the hare had no intention of going anywhere, however, Judy just sighed. “Look, I’m sorry if you’re hoping to get laid tonight, but one of those friends that I’m waiting for is my boyfriend. So, whatever you’re hoping for, it won’t be coming from me.”

 

“And can your boyfriend give you the litters of your dreams? Is he as handsome as I am? Or as rich?”

 

“Not looking to have any litters of kits at the moment, he’s definitely more handsome than you, and he’s probably got more money – not that I really care about that.” She shrugged as the hare’s expression faded slightly.

 

Before he could say anything, however, Nick slid in on the other side of Judy, with Clawhauser and Serge shoving in after him, pushing all of them around the edge of the table. The surprised and disgruntled hare moved reluctantly as Judy shoved against his side, going right to the edge of the booth and almost falling off.

 

“Ooh, champagne!” Clawhauser squealed. He grabbed what had been Judy’s glass and knocked the whole thing back in one go before reaching for the bottle to pour himself another. Serge put his paw up against Ben’s and nodded to where Judy was still nursing her beer while Kit was clutching his champagne glass almost hard enough to break it. “O-M-Goodness. This is your champagne, isn’t it, Mr. Hare? I am _soooo_ sorry! I thought Judy had ordered the bottle for the table, and I…”

 

“And so what if she had? It’s not like she’d ever want to share with a _predator_ like you! Now get out! We’re expecting company, and we don’t want them to be scared off by the likes of you three!”

 

“Well, Carrots,” Nick commented, slipping his arm around Judy, “it looks like your friend here has a burr up his butt! What, did they run out of $2 carrot shots or something?”

 

“Get away from her, fox! Do it, or I’ll call the police!”

 

Serge cleared his throat, catching the hare’s glare. “You do realize, I hope, sir,” he said respectfully, “that the three of them _are_ police officers, don’t you?” He indicated each of them in turn. “The famous Officer Judy Hopps, the one that solved the Night Howler incident, her partner Officer Nicholas Wilde, who has helped her with most of the major cases in her career so far, and Officer Benjamin Clawhauser, the best dispatch officer in the ZPD.”

 

The hare’s face had gone slack as he looked at each mammal in turn. “Wh… what?”

 

“What,” Judy snapped back, letting the irritation creep into her voice now, “you thought that they were just a bunch of predators who thought they could muscle us out of a table?”

 

“I… I…” Realizing that there was no real way for him to come out on top in that line of questioning, Kit changed the subject. “So which one of these two is your boyfriend, hmm? The flabby cat? I’ve always heard predos liked the meatier predators.”

 

“Hey! You have no right to talk about my friends like that!” Judy got so mad she stood up, looking down at the hare in fury. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Serge wrap his arm around Clawhauser and pull the larger feline towards him in a comforting embrace.

 

“And you seriously think miss goody-two-feet here would break up a love like that?” Nick gestured over at the two felines. Clawhauser seemed to have gotten over the comment and was enjoying another glass of champagne with Serge, clearly holding the leopard’s paw. “Sorry to disappoint you there, Mr. Hare, but I’m this young rabbit’s mate.”

 

The hare’s mouth hit the floor with astonishment, and his eyes couldn’t stop jumping between the fury-burning gaze of the rabbit and the cool but hard eyes of the fox that was leaning around her shoulder. Then, at a little hand gesture that Nick provided, Kit Torren slid out of the booth and shuffled off with a few select curse words that only Judy could hear, and that she was pretty sure were meant specifically for her ears.

 

She _thump_ ed back down into her seat and started swilling her beer like a sailor. In between swigs she muttered, “I can’t believe that lousy, flea-bitten, ticks-for-brains ne’er-do-well! How dare he say those things?! He’s such a—“

 

“Careful with the expletives there, Carrots,” Nick cautioned teasingly. “You might just get us kicked out for foul language. I mean, we have to set an example for the younger generation, now don’t we?”

 

“Don’t even start with me right now, Nicholas Wilde,” she snapped. “He deserves every _damn_ word that I’m spitting right now, and a thousand more that would make my mother _physically_ wash my mouth out with that shitty lye soap that _her_ great-grandmother made!”

 

“Wow, I’m surprised you even know a thousand curse words,” Ben blurted out. “Uh, I mean, uh… for such a cu— well-mannered little bunny!”

 

“Nice save there, bud,” Nick mouthed across at the cheetah, who returned a sheepish smile. Judy turned to give him a glare, which he met with softened eyes and a warm smile. Despite her anger, she melted a little bit inside – but more than that, she found it incredibly erotic.

 

Judy narrowed her eyes, then glanced away to hide the plan that she knew would read plain across her face as she formulated it. To keep Nick’s suspicions diverted, however, she called for another round of drinks from a passing waitress. They arrived a few moments later – the young doe obviously curious about what was going on with one little bunny being surrounded by so many predators – and Nick looked slightly alarmed as the waitress put the tall glass down in front of him.

 

“Uh… Carrots? What did you order?”

 

“Oh, don’t worry Slick, it’s something you’ll like. Trust me.”

 

Nick looked at her devilish grin and swallowed hard. Then, mimicking her movements, he picked up the glass, pressed it to his lips, and let the cool opal liquid to pour down his throat.

 

At first he couldn’t identify the taste. It was strange; almost fruity and very earthy, but with defined flavors of hops and oats. After a few moments, he could pick out the rhubarb and the cherries that made up the earthy and fruity parts, and as he finished his glass and put it back down on the table, he really began to appreciate the way the liquid combined all of the flavors into one very distinct brew.

 

Judy had already ordered another round for the table, and it wasn’t until Nick was halfway through his second glass that he felt the effects of the alcohol in his system. He had been hoping to go for a bit more of a moderate pace than if he were just trying to get drunk, but _damn_ was that… beer? Was that it? Damn, that beer was strong!

 

“Hey, Carr- * _hick!*_ Carrots, what is this stuff?” Judy giggled as the fox continued to hiccup, bouncing slightly in his seat every time.

 

“This is the infamous Hopps family brew, Burrowfoot Hard Root Beer. My third cousins twice removed inherited the farm where they grow and brew this stuff. Any time there’s a drinking contest in the Burrows, people use this stuff; it goes down smooth as water but then the alcohol hits you like a brick. It’s something like 35% alcohol.”

 

“That’s… that’s crazy,” Nick gasped. “How the hell do they get it so smooth?”

 

“Rhubarb is apparently really good for that,” she replied, knocking back her own drink again. Across the table, Ben and Serge had both finished their own seconds and were getting fairly touchy with each other.

 

The rest of the night blurred together for Nick a little bit. He knew they stayed at the table for a little while longer, him with his third Burrowfoot of the night, and once he had finished that, Judy had dragged him out onto the dance floor. It wasn’t long before Clawhauser and Serge joined them.

 

After that, the next thing he could remember was stopping Judy from ordering her fifth Burrowfoot of the night, and then calling a cab to bring them back home. He waved goodbye to the two felines, who were headed back to the dance floor, then they left the building.

 

Nick was thankful that Judy had enough sense to keep her paws (mostly) to herself in the back of the cab; with their recent promotion to detectives, they were going to be a very well-known sight in Zootopia, as always happened whenever they did something mildly interesting. _Perks of being the first rabbit and first fox officers in the ZPD,_ he thought to himself with a private smile. OF course, that was only as soon as Bogo made the official announcement and someone (inevitably) leaked the information to the press.

 

In the elevator was a different story for Judy’s self-control; within seconds of the doors closing she had her paws at his belt and was trying to remove his pants. “Whoa, easy there, fluff,” he slurred at her. “I’m just as keen as you are for this, but there are better times for it – like when there’s less chance we could run into our neighbors or have the police called on us for indecent exposure. Now wouldn’t _that_ be an awkward conversation with the Chief!”

 

“Mmm, but where’s the fun in that, big boy? What’s life without a little… _excitement!_ ” She succeeded in undoing his belt and zipper, and he belatedly realized that he had forgotten to sew the button back onto his suit pants from when she’d ripped them open the last time. Her paws dragged his pants and boxers to the floor, and he noticed with embarrassment that the head of his semi-erect member was already pointing at the perfect angle for Judy to wrap her lips around.

 

“Oh, god… Carrots, we r-really shouldn’t be doing tha-ha-ha-at here…”

 

Judy didn’t listen, simply continuing her ministrations on his rapidly engorging penis. She added in her paws as well, massaging his shaft and playing with his balls as she gently flicked the tip of her tongue against the underside of his cock head.

 

The elevator doors pinged as they reached their floor, and suddenly Judy was on her feet again, dashing away from him and down the hallway as fast as she could without falling, giving little teasing glances back over her shoulder as Nick scrambled to get his pants back up while simultaneously trying to hide his rock hard erection.

 

He just barely managed to catch up to his rabbit as she got the door to their condo open and dashed inside, leaving him to close the door behind him and follow once again. He was getting an idea of what she was up to now, and played along when she lifted the hem of her powder-blue dress in the doorway to their room and flashed him her bare ass and slit. He could already feel his knot starting to engorge as he beheld the sight and realized that she had been wearing absolutely nothing underneath her clothes the entire night!

 

Nick sprung after her, not caring anymore if his clothes stayed on or off, and by the time he reached the bedroom, his blazer, pants and boxers were scattered across the condo and he was practically ripping open the buttons on the shirt underneath.

 

Judy didn’t have any time to remove her clothes once she got into the bedroom; Nick was faster than he looked, and he had his paws wrapped around her waist in heartbeats (his, not hers). She shuddered with pleasure as she felt his claws trace softly against the skin of her stomach as he pulled the dress off of her, tossing it to the floor without a care. The next thing she knew after that was those same paws lifting her onto the bed with her ass hanging off the end and Nick’s wet nose snuffling around between her legs. His hot breath on her fur felt amazing, and when he started using his tongue to lap up her already flowing juices, she felt she could die of happiness.

 

It didn’t last very long, but with how far inside of her his scooping tongue could reach she didn’t need it to. She was already close when she felt him move up, tongue lapping upwards along her spine, and when he nipped at her throat, the moan she let out practically caused him to thrust into her right then and there.

 

Of course, she didn’t give him the chance for that. She ripped away from his teeth and flipped him onto his back, planting herself on his stomach with her paws grasping his. Judy took some pleasure in seeing his eyes widen as she took control.

 

“Nuh-uh, you naughty fox,” she whispered seductively. “Tonight, I’m the one in control.”

 

She arched her back so that her stomach was pressed against his and started to grind her mound along his shaft. She could feel his breath hitch at first contact, and then the low rumble of a moan reverberating through his entire body as she increased the tempo and force.

 

“Mmm, you’re getting good at that, fluff.”

 

“I try,” she replied with a cocky smile that mimicked the one Nick usually had plastered on his face. Then, without warning, she lifted up and impaled herself on his cock.

 

It was a tight fit; even though she was as loose as she had ever been and both of them were producing a lot of lubricant, Nick was just so big comparatively to her that she could feel him stretching her to the limit. She slowly sank down inch by inch, experiencing an unprecedented level of pleasure as she was filled more fully than any rabbit or hare had ever been able to fill her. She got most of the way down his cock when she was completely filled. That is, until an involuntary thrust on his part caused her to take the whole of his cock deep inside her. She wasn’t sure, but she thought the tip must have passed her cervix.

 

Along with the feelings of intense pleasure that she was feeling, she also felt more than a little pain as her insides acclimated to the unexpected and unusually large intrusion inside her. She couldn’t stop the little shriek that escaped her.

 

“Are you okay?” Nick seemed extremely sober all of a sudden and very, very concerned. “What happened?”

 

“I’m fine,” Judy panted. “Just… just wasn’t expecting you to get up… _that far_ inside me.” Nick’s expression cleared and she could just make out a little flush in his ears as he gave another involuntary thrust upwards. She gave another small shriek. “Stay still for a moment, okay? I need to get used to this.”

 

They both stayed there panting, Judy still impaled on Nick’s member and he still planted firmly on his back, his paws supporting her so she didn’t have her full weight on his cock.

 

Judy gathered her legs under her after a few moments and started moving slowly up and down. Then faster and faster as she experience more pleasure and less pain. Soon it was all Nick could do to keep up with her frantic thrusts as she impaled herself again and again and again and again.

 

It only took a few minutes of this for her insides to grab him in a vice grip that he was convinced would leave bruises, but that milked him harder than any vixen had ever done. And it just didn’t stop. Wave after wave after wave, she couldn’t seem to stop her orgasms.

 

It lasted almost 2 full minutes before Nick felt the familiar stirring in his own loins that signaled he was close. He tried to alert Judy to the fact, but the only sounds he could get out of his mouth were grunts and moans of ecstasy, sounds which she echoed ten times louder with every orgasm and attempted thrust on his part.

 

Finally Judy’s orgasms subsided just enough for him to be able to thrust deep inside of her. The head of his cock rippled and pulsed as it pushed past her cervix again and sent rope after rope of sperm sailing into her womb, obviously filling it and more. The motion seemed to set her off again on another round of orgasms, which continued to milk Nick’s cock until he felt completely spent. He just managed to pull Judy off of his member before he lost all strength in his arms and he passed out.

**

Clawhauser was the first to notice the two of them walk into the precinct. Not together, of course; that would have been too obvious – especially with the state Officer Hopps was in. The cheetah cooed in sympathy as the rabbit walked, bow-legged, over to his desk and carefully hopped up onto the reception counter.

 

“Looks like you had a rough night,” he chuckled as she grabbed a large swig of his coffee and bit into a banana. “So who’s idea was it, yours or Nick’s?”

 

“The drinks were mine. The other stuff… was also mine.”

 

“Just really good sex? Or was it your first time?”

 

“Both, but first time with Nick,” she replied in a subdued tone. “And keep your voice down, please, I don’t want the whole precinct to hear about this.”

 

“It’ll be kind of hard to hide, sweetheart. Unless you were planning on avoiding everyone today and going to hide out in records?”

 

“Don’t tempt me. With the hangover I’ve got, I would gladly take a day in records.”

 

“Be careful what you wish for,” Clawhauser said, glancing over at the doors. “Here comes the chief now, and his hearing has only been getting better the older he gets, it seems.”

 

“Indeed, Officer Clawhauser,” Bogo called as he approached the front desk. “Hello, Hopps. You’re looking positively chipper this morning; I thought I warned you about getting too many drinks last night?”

 

“Sorry, sir; it was supposed to only be the one, but things got a little out of hand… especially when that ‘one drink’ was strong enough to count as four.”

 

The buffalo snorted. “Perhaps I’ll put you and Wilde on parking duty today; if _you’re_ this bad, then he’s bound to be at least a few times worse off. Speaking of your partner, where is he?”

 

“I don’t know; he left a few minutes before me so he could pick up coffee and breakfast. He was supposed to meet me here, so he’s probably at our desks.”

 

“See to it that he doesn’t get too carried away with catching up on sleep; I’ll be making the announcement of your promotions public today.”

 

Judy groaned. “Yessir, Chief.”

 

“Oh, you poor little bunny,” Clawhauser cooed again, stroking the top of her head with his claws. “You’re going to have to get up and do a speech and then the whole precinct will know just what fun you and your fox had last night after you left the bar!”

 

Judy groaned again and hung her head in her hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who's been following this series: I'm sorry that I suddenly dropped off the map and haven't posted in a while. As any writer knows, inspiration comes and goes. I hit a major bout of writer's block and for the longest time I had no ability to write this story. Now I think I'm starting to get back into the swing of things. 
> 
> To everyone who's been following this series from the beginning: Thank you so much for sticking with it! Your kudos and comments have meant a lot to me in ways that I can't articulate.


	5. Vows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For all the wedding pictures that been scrolling across my tumblr dash, and because I've been waiting to write this scene for a while.

It wasn’t exactly the ‘destination wedding’ she’d always dreamed of, but somehow this felt more exotic than any destination wedding she could have hoped for. Right up on God’s Holy Hill – the same place that the Hopps clan had been hosting weddings for generations.

 

As she walked up the steps, her paws quivering around the bouquet of pale pink tulips and white roses, her father’s paws quivering just as much as they rested on her right arm, she couldn’t help but feel like she’d rather be a thousand other places than here at this moment. It was stupid, she knew; after all, she had been the one to propose to Nick in the first place.

 

She couldn’t help the smile that lifted the corners of her mouths as she remembered the expression that had been on his face as she’d gotten down on one knee and opened the box. He’d been speechless, and if his mouth had opened any more, she was sure she’d have had to pick it up off the floor to get any kind of answer out of him.

 

_“Nick,” she said, her voice trembling with nerves but looking hopefully up at her fox, “I thought that when you agreed to be my partner at the ZPD, I couldn’t get any happier. Then, when we started dating, I thought for sure that that was the happiest day of my life. Now, I want you to make this the happiest day of my life.” She paused as she gazed up into his emerald eyes. “Nicholas Piberius Wilde, will you make me the happiest rabbit in the world and be my husband?”_

_It seemed to take a moment for the words to fully register. Then, with a small shake of his head and a laugh, Nick fell to his knees in front of Judy, pulled her into the tightest hug she’d ever been in – never mind the box and her limbs in between them – and kissed her on the lips more passionately than ever. His actions elicited a grumble from Finnick, whom she’d asked to be the cameraman to film the proposal, and they broke apart, breathless._

_“Oh, Judy, you really shouldn’t have,” he replied, extending his paw. “You know, funny enough, I was just in the market for a ring for_ you _the other day. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get any, though; I like this idea much better.”_

_Judy couldn’t help but giggle as he extended his paw and she slipped the band of chased gold inset with amethysts onto his wrist._

She’d decided to use a bracelet instead of a ring because the ZPD only allowed single-band, unadorned weddings rings with the uniform. Besides; she couldn’t really see Nick ever wearing a ring that wasn’t a wedding band.

 

Judy and her father stepped up onto the stone dais at the top of the hill, where most of the wedding proceedings actually happened. There she beheld Nick for the first time, in all his fully-groomed glory.

 

Nick was wearing a distinguished black silk tuxedo with a crisp white shirt and black tie. He’d gotten his fur trimmed for the occasion; it made him look all the more handsome, and far more mature. The black tips of his ears each had a subtle silver hoop piercing them, something for which Judy had in no way been prepared, but that she felt looked good nevertheless. Though she couldn’t see the bracelet, she knew it was tucked up under the sleeve of his suit.

 

As she and her father crested the hill, the whole wedding party turned to look at her. Once again, Nick’s mouth dropped open, and she thought she could make out tears in his eyes. He quickly got his facial expression under control again, however, and instead gave her the warmest smile she’d ever gotten from him.

 

She returned it graciously, and then they were at the altar. Judy’s father reached up and gently lifted her veil. He planted a kiss on her forehead and then retreated to stand behind Nick among the groomsmen.

 

“And so the cycle beings anew,” intoned the old priest. Judy had been surprised that he’d agreed to do the marriage ceremony; she’d always thought that he was an extremely conservative old man. But he had seemed almost eager to officiate for them. “The old entrust the young to themselves and to each other, and the young take with them the blessings and hopes of the old and give back the promise of a future.

 

“We are gathered here today, upon this holy ground and under the clearest of blue skies, to witness the love and dedication of these two young mammals. They wish to join together in holy matrimony, and today is the day that this wish shall come true. Mr. Wilde, you may begin with your vows.”

 

Nick cleared his throat, then looked down at Judy and with the clearest, strongest voice he could muster, he recited his vows. “I, Nicholas Piberius Wilde, promise to you, Judith Laverne Hopps, that I shall love you without question; trust you fully and completely, without hesitation; care for you and the rest of our family for as long as I bear the physical and mental capacity to do so; and be the partner you need me to be, and the best partner I can be, both at work and everywhere else, for as long as we both yet live.”

 

Judy could feel her breath catch in her throat, and it was her turn to get tears in her eyes. She and Nick hadn’t discussed their vows with each other before the ceremony; they’d both wanted it to be a surprise. She just wasn’t expecting him to be so in-depth and so darn _amazing!_

 

“Thank you, Mr. Wilde. Ms. Hopps, you may now recite your vows.”

 

Judy took a moment to compose herself, then she took a deep breath and began. “I, Judith Laverne Hopps, promise to you, Nicholas Piberius Wilde, that I shall love you and care for you with all my heart, mind, body, and soul; that I shall trust you with my life and my heart forever more; that I shall do whatever it takes to protect and grow our family, to help them and care for them for as long as I’m able; and that I will never abandon you and will always be there for you when you need me, for as long as we both yet live.”

 

The two of them had never broken eye contact the full time they were saying their vows. Judy could see a swirl of emotions going through Nicks’ mind, but the most dominant ones were easily _love_ and _joy_. Judy couldn’t help but smile up at the only mammal that had ever been able to really make her happy and really _understood_ her. When she was with him, that warm fuzzy feeling was never far from her heart.

 

“Thank you Ms. Hopps. Who has the rings?” Finnick stepped up from where he was standing and handed a large ring box to the priest. The old rabbit opened it carefully and proffered the open box to the two mammals facing each other.

 

Nick was the first to break eye contact, reaching over and taking the smaller of the two rings, fitted for Judy’s finger. She held out her left paw and he slid the ring into place. Then it was her turn. She reached over with her recently freed left paw and picked up Nick’s ring. He extended his left paw, and with only a small amount of difficulty, she slid it right down to the base of his finger.

 

“By the powers vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

 

Nick grabbed Judy around the waist and pulled her towards him, her feet leaving the ground as her own legs tried to elevate her as high as they could. They met in the middle, the bottom of Nick’s muzzle pressed flat against his tie as he tilted it downwards to meet her lips.   


Judy was glad that Nick was holding her, because if she didn’t have _something_ holding her down, she felt like she could just float away from the euphoria of this moment.

 

After a few moments, they broke apart and turned towards the crowd gathered at the bottom of the hill. Neither one could keep the smiles off their faces as their friends and family cheered them on. Judy’s bridesmaids and Nick’s groomsmen fell into step behind them as they made their way down the stone steps cut into the hill.

 

The next few hours passed in a blur for Judy. Photographs by the thousands were taken, congratulations by the hundreds were heaped upon the newly-married couple, and introductions by the dozens had to be made for each of them to various acquaintances of their partner. Fru Fru gave her Maid of Honor speech, Flash gave an (agonizingly slow) speech as the best man, and Finnick played the role of Nick’s drunk uncle and started cracking jokes about his three marriages.

 

The meal was delicious; the Hopps clan had really pulled together, and there were plenty of fish and insect dishes to go alongside the more vegetarian friendly options. The cake was, of course, a cake, and was quickly devoured by all in attendance.

 

Then it was time for the first dance. All the guests helped clear a space under the pavilion that had been erected in one of the empty fields, and the wooden floor that her family had put in place for the event was cleared so that Judy and her fox would have plenty of room to awe the people around them.

 

Nick pulled her onto the dance floor then surprised her as he pulled a single red rose corsage from inside his suit and slid it down her left ear. Judy could feel the blood that was rushing to her face and her ears, but she decided she didn’t care. This was her day. Who cared what anyone else thought about the gesture?

 

They took up their positions and the band started playing. All thought dropped from Judy’s mind as she gazed up into the eyes of her fox… her new husband. His soft smile, the half-lidded gaze that she’d first found so annoying and cold but now couldn’t be more affectionate. It made her giddy in the best of ways.

 

As they had a thousand times before, Nick led them through the dance. It was a traditional dance performed by foxes when they got married. They’d decided to try and incorporate as many vulpine traditions as they could, since most of the people present were going to be rabbits and hares.

 

The band finished their song and Judy and Nick bowed to each other, and then the next one started and suddenly the dance floor was flooded with dozens of couples, performing this or that dance, changing partners at the drop of a hat or staying together for songs on end. It was pandemonium, but to Judy it was such a familiar and welcoming sensation that she couldn't help the tears of joy that finally sprang to her eye.

 

After a few songs, she and Nick retreated to the high table at one end of the pavilion. She waved off the waiter who had appeared to refill her glass with yet more carrot wine (she’d already had a half-dozen glasses) and sat back, content to watch for a few moments and be separated from the crowd.

 

“I have to say,” Nick said, leaning in towards her, “this has got to be the liveliest wedding I’ve ever been to – and it looks like not even half the guests have been drinking!”

 

“Rabbits aren’t used to this many predators around them,” Judy replied, nuzzling Nick’s throat with the top of her head. She was careful to avoid crushing the rose in the process. “Probably the more paranoid and distrustful people here have decided that they’re going to be watching to make sure that no one is trying to hurt the younger generations.”

 

“That and almost everyone from the police force here has a shift tomorrow. I spoke to Clawhauser earlier; he had a peek at the schedule and told me that Bogo had to pull some major strings to get all the invited guests off of patrol for a few days.”

 

“We’ll have to thank him for that later. It wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun if most of our friends hadn’t been able to be here.”

 

Nick nodded in agreement and intertwined his paw with hers. They stayed like that at the head table for a few more minutes, then they moved back onto the dance floor for the bouquet toss.

 

Judy wasn’t entirely sure how she was supposed to do it – they hadn’t had time to do a rehearsal of the reception because they’d only arrived the night before on the last train out of Zootopia. So when her sister Beth handed her the bouquet of tulips and roses and spun her around, it took everything in her to not chuck it straight up (or punt it like a football, as she’d seen a few of her cousins do in the past).

 

She cocked her arm in front of her, then holding her breath, she flung it into the air behind her. She didn’t turn around, but she could easily hear the sounds of a mad scramble happening behind her. After a few seconds, she turned to face the gathered crowd, watching with them as Jazz the otter fought with three of Judy’s younger siblings for the bouquet.

 

It seemed to only take a few seconds for the rabbits to gain control, and Jazz backed up to stand beside Finnick with a defeated slump in her shoulders, but a pleasant smile on her face nonetheless. The diminutive fox put his arm around her shoulders and whispered something in her ear that made the rabbit beside him cringe in surprise. Or maybe it was the stench of alcohol. Judy couldn't be sure.

 

The night blurred again as they continued to dance and converse with the guests around them, thanking everyone profusely for their congratulations and the gifts that they had brought (which were temporarily being stored in Judy’s room until they were able to bring them all back to Zootopia with them).

 

Finally, the last of the guests were making their way out, and Judy and Nick were left alone with some of her oldest siblings. With Anna, Beth, Annie, Nate, and Jeff leading the way, the group of twenty or so rabbits ushered the newlyweds around to the back of the Holy Hill and through the door underneath. Nick protested at first, but at Judy’s reassuring paw on his elbow and her confident (and mischievous) smile, he calmed down and went with the flow.

 

The door shut behind them and they heard a lock click into place. “What, do they expect us to sleep down here?” Nick grumbled.

 

“Yep!” He looked down at her in surprise. “It’s a tradition,” she explained. “The newlyweds get a place entirely separate from everyone else for the entire night and they’re not allowed to leave until the morning. It’s to encourage reproduction.” She giggled.

 

“Huh?”

 

Judy ignored him, instead grabbing him by the paw and dragging him through the sloping tunnel into the room at the end. She looked up as they entered and tried to imprint the look of wonder on Nick’s face into her memory forever. It was such a magical expression on him.

 

The room in question consisted of a large earthen dome melting into stone at the apex, where a tiny shaft of moonlight peaked through. A four-poster bed dominated the center of the room, with a glassed-in fireplace against one wall and a closed closet directly opposite it. Along the wall were a surprising amount of alcoholic drinks, ranging from wine and beer to rum, whiskey and vodka, to even what Nick suspected was moonshine. Beside some of the drinks were wooden boxes that had the distinct appearance of fancy cigar cases.

 

Right at the foot of the bed was a small end table with two wine flutes and a small bottle between them. Judy went straight for those, letting go of his paw and leaving him to make his own way over to her. She quickly emptied the blue liquid inside the bottle into the two wine flutes and handed one to him.

 

“This is a special drink that helps increase energy and stamina,” Judy explained with a giggle. Nick suspected it was the wine from earlier in the night that was still affecting her. “Unlike energy drinks, though, it doesn’t decrease libido.”

 

“Sounds like a marketable product you’ve got there… _oh._ ” The full import of what she was saying dawned on him. “Wait, you mean your family are _encouraging_ us to _fuck each other_?”

 

“Mm-hm!” Judy nodded emphatically and raised her glass. Nick obliged and gently tapped his own against hers. The crystal produced a soft tinkling sound.

 

They both downed their drinks at the same time, then Judy began stripping out of her dress. Nick wasn’t expecting her to want to go at it so soon, but then again as the dress fell to the floor around her a wave of her pheromones hit him like a brick. He practically stumbled forward, caught up in the delicious smell wafting from between her legs.

 

She twirled back to face him, showing off her bright blue lingerie. She’d told him she’d gotten something special for their wedding night, but he was in no way prepared for the outfit she was wearing now. It was… _exotic_ would be one way to describe it; _sexy as hell_ would be another. He could already feel the tent he was pitching in his pants.

 

“What are you waiting for, Slick?” she asked, voice low and seductive. She swayed her hips as she sauntered over to him. He found himself helplessly caught in her violet eyes as she placed her paw at the base of the pole in his pants and gently stroked towards herself, eliciting a small whine from the fox. “All you have to do is take all this fabric off… and let me do the rest of the work. I’ll even give you a hand.”

 

She began slowly working her paws across his member through his pants, eliciting another whine and causing him to pant with lust. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it seemed as if she had gotten a hundred times better since the last time they’d fooled around just a few days ago.

 

“C’mon, Nick,” she sighed, finally opening his pants and allowing them to drop to the floor. “Help me out a little bit. You _know_ it will be worth your while.”

 

Nick finally managed to regain control of his limbs and began to do as his partner bid. He couldn’t help but think, as he dropped his coat and started to undo the buttons on his shirt and Judy continued her ministrations, that he was liking being told what to do by her.

**

Judy held up the lighter for her partner as he turned the cigar over flickering flame and puffed until it was lit. He puffed a few more times, then let his arm drop over the edge of the bed to tap off the ashes into an ashtray.

 

Judy put aside the lighter and reached up to turn Nick’s muzzle towards her own. His smile was warm as he tilted his face down to meet her lips, then reached further and left a little nip at her throat, causing her to let out a slight moan that quickly turned into a giggle and a playful slap on his arm. “Don’t tell me you’re ready to go for _another_ round!”

 

Nick chuckled. “No, I just like to make you squirm. It’s cute.” He took another puff on the cigar. “This is good.”

 

“It’s homegrown,” she replied, resting her head against his shoulder, her paw kneading patterns in the thick fur of his chest. “Tobacco and sweetgrass, grown in my mother’s garden. It’s never been dried so it keeps its flavor a lot better.”

 

“I like it. Any chance that I could get more of these?”

 

“We only roll them for weddings. Once the ones in that box are gone, you’re outta luck, slick. I didn’t know you smoked, though.”

 

Nick curled his arm around her and pulled her closer, leaving his paw on her bare hip. He gently stroked her side with his claws. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Carrots.”

 

Judy pulled back the paw that was kneading his fur and smacked him in the sternum, with just enough force to draw a sharp exhale from between his teeth. “Not exactly the best thing to say to your new _wife_ on your wedding night,” she huffed, before returning her paw to what she was doing before.

 

Judy hadn’t hurt him so Nick saw no reason to be upset. He rumbled a quiet laugh and took another few puffs on his cigar. “Cigarettes appealed to me when I was younger and I did smoke when I could afford them. Cigars, on the other hand, are just really nice as a way to wind down and relax after good sex. And good cigars can make an evening even better. That’s why I don’t smoke them more, though; I haven’t been able to find good cigars in a long time.”

 

“That and they’re bad for your lungs.”

 

“That too.”

 

They lapsed into a comfortable and comforting silence. Distantly, Judy could hear the song of larks singing from the edge of the fields. The sky was beginning to brighten and change color as the sun rose from the east.

 

A sudden thought jumped to the forefront of Judy’s mind. _I spent the last five hours fucking my new husband, and now we’re resting together in bed watching the sunrise._ She snuggled in closer to Nick’s side and planted a few soft kisses of her own into his fur.

 

Judy fell into a doze, and when she woke up she found Nick curled around her with her head pressed to his chest and his tail wrapped around to press against her back. She shifted slightly, trying to get more comfortable, and Nick uncurled slightly. “Good afternoon, sleepyhead,” he teased.

 

“Good afternoon, sweetheart,” she replied with a kiss. “How long did we sleep?”

 

“A good few hours; it’s almost dinnertime.”

 

“What?!” Judy shoved herself upright, causing the blanket to fall away from them.

 

Nick had a heartbeat to admire the view, then said, “Relax, Carrots. Your family understands. Beth came in earlier and told me a story about her wedding night. She also said that we’re only expected for dinner in about an hour and a half.”

 

Judy seemed to relax slightly at his words, and settled back down into her previous position. “Oh. So we have some time to get ready then.”

 

“Of course. Speaking of getting ready, we should probably go take a shower; we worked up quite a sweat last night, and you reek.” She punched him playfully, then hopped out of bed and sauntered over to the door of the washroom, flicking her tail enticingly.

 

After their shower – and a quicky under the water – they got dressed and headed out the door to go back to the Hopps warrens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always welcome! :)


	6. Blink of an Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter... finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably made some mistakes. Oops. (beta'd only by me)

_“It has been 10 years since the infamous Night Howler case, and the once controversial Mammal Inclusion Initiative put forward by former mayor Leodore Lionheart has produced nothing but success stories. None of these are more well-known and more beloved by all lawful citizens – or detested by the criminals – than that of Chief Judith Hopps and Detective-Lieutenant Nicholas Wilde of the Zootopia Police Department. Tonight, in response to recent rumors that Chief Hopps is retiring from the police force, ZNN’s own Fabienne Growley has the insider scoop.”_

The lemur behind the camera counted down on his fingers, and then on televisions across Zootopia the image turned to a view of a comfortable, if sparse, sitting room. Fabienne Growley, the famous snow leopard who had recently been promoted to head news anchor after Peter Moosebridge retired, sat on one of the two armchairs. Opposite her, on a chair scaled to fit so she wouldn’t look ridiculous, sat Chief Judy Hopps, youngest chief of police Precinct 1 had ever seen. The rabbit seemed comfortable and composed, completely unlike her first time in the spotlight during the press conference for the Night Howler’s case.

 

“Chief Hopps,” Fabienne started. “First of all I’d like to thank you for taking your time out of your busy schedule to meet with me for this interview. I understand that the ZPD’s Precinct 1 has been rather chaotic lately since that mammal smuggling ring was uncovered.”

 

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” Judy replied with a small laugh. “But it’s nothing that our officers and the rest of the team at Precinct 1 can’t handle. They’re the best in the field, and they are more than capable of dealing with any incidents that may come up in the time it takes for us to have this interview.” The pride she had in her subordinates was practically palpable.

 

“Your trust in your officers inspires confidence that they can handle themselves while you’re gone. Do you think the same will be able to be said if and when your rumored retirement actually comes to fruition?”

 

“Of course. Like I said, they’re the best.”

 

“Now, Chief Hopps, the question on everyone’s lips at the moment, are you actually going to be retiring from your position as an officer of the Zootopia Police Department?”

 

“Not exactly.” Judy took a moment to compose her thoughts before answering the question that she could already hear forming on the snow leopard’s lips, though no sound had yet escaped. “I will be retiring from my role as chief of police, and after an extended leave of absence, it is my hope that I will be able to rejoin the ZPD and continue to help serve my city however I can.”

 

“And why, Chief Hopps, have you decided at this time to take an extended leave of absence? You’re right in the middle of an illustrious career with the police force and have risen through the ranks through no small effort of your own. It would seem almost counter intuitive to leave your position now, would it not? You still have most of your life ahead of you, and yet to some it might seem that you’re giving up on your dream.”

 

“My dream was always to be a police officer, Fabienne; I’ve achieved that and more in the past 10 years, and seen and done more than I could have ever hoped. And as you said, I still have a full life ahead of me. When I choose to, I feel I can return to the police force and eventually work my way back up to whatever position I feel most comfortable in.”

 

“So why _are_ you taking this leave, Chief Hopps?”

 

The rabbit took a deep breath and let it out slowly, a toothless smile accenting her features as she did. “Well, my partner and I have been discussing this for quite some time now, and we’ve decided that we’ve reached a level of stability in our life that allows for us to start a family.”

 

Fabienne couldn’t stop the small gasp of shock and excitement that escaped her at hearing this news. Of all the possibilities she had planned for, all the scenarios that she had revised and refined questions to accommodate, _this_ one… well, who could have predicted that?!

 

Thinking on her toes, Fabienne quickly regained her composure. “Well, Chief Hopps, that is certainly unexpected. I’d like to offer you congratulations on behalf of everyone here at ZNN.” Judy nodded in thanks, flashing a smile at the snow leopard sitting across from her.

 

“Ask her about her partner,” the voice of her producer hissed in the feline’s ear. She absorbed as much information as she could while formulating her next question. “You mentioned this was a decision between yourself and your partner. May I assume that you were referring to Detective-Lieutenant Nicholas Wilde?”

 

“Yes, I was.”

 

“Have the two of you decided how you will bring this child into your family?” It was a question that made Fabienne squirm inside almost as much as the rabbit sitting across from her. It was against the feline’s own professional instincts in terms of questions to be asked, but her producer was just feeding her questions at that point.

 

“I’m sorry; I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you’re referring to.”

 

“For example, will you be adopting a child? Or have you elected to bring in a surrogate parent?”

 

The rabbit’s expression cleared and she shrugged slightly as if in embarrassment. “My brother, Dr. Jeffrey Hopps of Mammoth Falls University’s Biology Department, has been making a lot of groundbreaking research in the field of cross-species genetics. My partner and I have signed up for the first round of mammalian testing of his new method of interspecies procreation.”

 

Both Fabienne and her producer were left dumbfounded for a moment, with Fabienne left only to say “I… wow.” Her producer quickly recovered, however, and called for a commercial break.

 

The second they were off the air, the producer was in the studio handing the bunny a piece of paper. “Chief Hopps, is this what you were referring to?”

 

Judy took a brief glance over the paper she’d been handed and nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, that’s the call for trial candidates.”

 

“Excellent.” The ermine was already handing Fabienne a package of papers for her to browse. The snow leopard’s eyes started darting across the page, taking in as much as she could while trying to process the entire thing. Judy knew how hard of a task it had been. Both her and Nick had had to work together to understand most of the paper. Thankfully it seemed like what Fabienne had was just a printout of the article that Jeff had written for a peer-reviewed journal.

 

The ermine retreated back into the control booth. Fabienne handed her packet of sheets to one of the stagehands and the lemur began his count again. “Welcome back. Today we have a special interview with Chief Judith Hopps of the Zootopia Police Department, who has just announced that she will be taking an extended leave of absence in order to start a family with her life partner, Detective-Lieutenant Nicholas Wilde. Now, Chief Hopps. This is a big announcement, and a big step forward – both for you and your partner, and for all members of the interspecies community. Could you please explain again how you are planning on growing your family, for those viewers who tuned in late?”

 

“Of course, Fabienne. My partner and I have decided to expand our family, and so we’ve volunteered to be part of the first round of mammalian testing for a new type of interspecies procreation.”

 

“This new method was created by Dr. Jeffrey Hopps of Mammoth Falls University; your younger brother, is that correct?”

 

“Yes, that’s correct.”

 

“Could you provide any details about the process which you are about to undertake?”

 

“The procedure is similar to other methods of fertility treatments: an egg is fertilized in a member of the species that you want the offspring to be apart of, and then is surgically removed and inserted into the womb of the mammal who is to be the mother – in this case, me. Then the mother is given periodic doses of hormones from the other species in ever increasing amounts, as well as dietary supplements that correspond to the other species’ natural diets.”

 

“I see. Have you decided which species you will be attempting to birth?”

 

“A fox, of course. The goal here is to have both of us be the biological parents of our child or children.”

 

“You and your partner come from completely different species – to put it bluntly, he is a predator, and you’re prey. Is it safe for you to be receiving injections of fox hormones?”

 

“It is. All of the key chemicals that make our body work are the same; it’s just certain chemicals that are needed in different amounts to ensure that the child grows up as a healthy member of their own species.”

 

“You also said you’d need to have dietary supplements in addition to the hormone injections in order for the child to grow healthy inside of you. What kind of dietary supplements were you talking about?”

 

“Supplements such as protein.” Judy shrugged uncomfortably. “Thanks to the demands of my training to be a member of the Zootopia Police Force, I’m no stranger to protein powders and the like. So for the most part, I’ll have that covered. However, in order to make sure that the child can eat protein once they’re born, near the end of the pregnancy I’ll have to start eating protein-rich foods, so I’ll need special enzymes that will allow me to digest fish and insect proteins.”

 

“Because neither of those are native to a rabbit’s diet, correct?” Judy nodded in confirmation. “And how will you get those protein-digesting enzymes? Is there some sort of special pill that will allow you to develop them temporarily?”

 

“There are, but none that are designed for a rabbit’s digestive system. My brother and his team, as part of their research, created a special pill that will allow a naturally herbivorous animal to develop protein-digesting enzymes. I can honestly say I don’t know how they did it, but they had me start taking them last month already.”

 

“Now, one question that everyone in the city will be asking themselves after hearing your words, is how long do you think you’ll be away from the force?”

 

“It will be between five and ten years that I’ll be away from the force. After that, I’ll likely have at least one sibling – or niece or nephew, for that matter – to help take care of the kids when both my partner and I are working, so I won’t need to be there all the time.”

 

“Please forgive me if you find issue with my question, now, but how many litters do you think you’ll have?”

 

Judy flushed slightly and smoothed her ears back before replying to the snow leopard’s question. “We’ll start with just one for know. We’re still not sure how many kits I’ll be having per litter, and how long after I stop with the fertility treatments I’ll be able to get pregnant again. But the plan for right now is, just the one.”

 

“Well, once again, thank you very much for coming in to speak with us, Chief Hopps,” Fabienne purred. She paused for a moment, and when she resumed speaking, she was all business at the cameras. “After the break, we will be chatting with Doctor Jeffrey Hopps over video-chat, and he’ll be telling us more about his revolutionary new methods.”

 

The red lights on the cameras went out, the “ON AIR” sign turned off, and the producer was back in the studio. “Alright, Chief Hopps, thank you very much for your time,” the ermine shot at the rabbit. “Fabienne, you’ve got five minutes while we set up the video call with Dr. Hopps.”

 

The snow leopard stood up and stuck out her paw towards Judy. “Thank you, Chief Hopps. That was probably the most emotion-twisting interview I’ve done in a while. I look forward to speaking with you again, if this is the way you do all your interviews.” Judy shook her paw and the feline tore off towards her dressing room.

 

Judy stood up as well and made her way over to the wall, against which Nick was leaning in his casual clothes. “Good job, Carrots,” he murmured as he nuzzled her behind her ears. “You’ve gotten a whole lot better at interviews since the first time, hey?”

 

“All thanks to you, ya silly fox. I wouldn’t be anywhere near as good without you.”

 

“That’s what I like to hear,” Nick joked. Judy clapped him on the back.

 

The two of them left the studio, Judy’s arm around Nick’s hips, Nick’s right arm around Judy’s shoulders (and his left gently massaging his back where she’d hit him).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone, thank you so much for reading, liking/kudos-ing, and commenting. I wasn't expecting any kind of readership when I first started uploading and I've gotten a lot of joy from finding out exactly how many people have enjoyed my work.
> 
> Thank you also for sticking through to the end and reading everything even after months-long hiatuses without warning, including when I'd randomly upload other 30-odd page stories that had nothing to do with this series at all and still not giving you anything here.
> 
> To all, you have made my life a littler brighter and my soul a little more confident I can be a writer.
> 
> So, thanks.
> 
> //End of cheesiness//

**Author's Note:**

> I can't promise regular updates, but I will update when I have a chapter ready.


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